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Stereotypes: What Are They?

Everybody can believe in everything he wants. If you believe that you can be good at school or university all you need is find some best online classes to take. However, sometimes people think that something is real while it is just a myth. We call it a stereotype. There are many of them in different areas of our life. We have stereotypes connected with some countries or with some definite groups of people. However, anyway, stereotypes should be disclosed and people should know the truth. That’s why some wide spread stereotypes should be demonstrated and then we will try to figure out whether they are true or not. First of all, we should look at term stereotype itself and some reasons why stereotypes appear.

What is stereotype?

As every phenomenon, stereotype doesn’t appear from anything. As usual, it has certain background and base. You can find some information and definition of stereotype. Talking in general, stereotype is a certain thought about group of people or about definite process or action. It should be also mentioned that this thought is not always reflect reality, or in other words, it may be just a myth.

For example, many people think that women are not good at sport. However, we can prove that it is a stereotype. Because as usual, stereotypes have no basis and build just on some unreasonable thoughts. This example can be referred to a group of gender stereotypes. If you want to be sure that it’s a stereotype, read about female participation in sport. There exist many other groups and the most spread are stereotypes connected with nations and traditionsof different nations or about different groups of people. So it’s time to give some examples and to analyze them.

Examples of stereotypes and their truthfulness

You may know statements below, but can you prove them? Do you have any facts? This is how stereotype works: you just admitsomethingasitshouldn’tbe proved. However, it is not so. Very often border between stereotype and truth is very thin and is really hard to be distinguished. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish truth from lie, especially during war. Feel free to look at least of some movies about war that will help you to understand situation better: http://onlineclassmentor.com/blog/war-disasters-captured-in-films.

1. French people eat frogs

This stereotype has definite background. French people really ate frogs, but not entire animal. They ate only their legs. However, in some countries offensive name for French people is still widely used. If we go back in history, we could see that many years ago, this dish was really popular.

As for now, frog legs are not very popular and can’t be found in all restaurants. So we can’t say that French people eat only this dish. Moreover, frog legs in France is kind of dish for rich people. Of course, France is among first countries that import frog legs from Asian countries. However, it doesn’t mean anything. This dish can be found in many different countries too. So, now you know that French people don’t eat frogs every day and it is not right to think like that. If you like, unusual things connected with food or something other, you will like information about popular unusual pets.

2. French are drinkers

This stereotype also has some background. It should be mentioned that France is well-known for its wine and champagne. Moreover, it is one of the top producers of these drinks. It is true that French people drink wine or some aperitifs during the meal. However, we should understand the difference between wineglass of good drink and some bottles of beer. So French people just enjoy their good wine during the meal. It doesn’t mean that they are always drunk or that they all drink alcohol every day. Of course most of wine from France is extremely expensive, however not only French people can be proud of price of their drinks. Feel free to know how much world's most expensive drink costs.

3. French people and English people don’t like each other

This statement is in some kind true. We can really see that French people don’t like English people and vice versa. That is mainly because of Hundred Years’ War. We can see it even in languages: French always try to invent their own word for the English equivalent. However, it doesn’t mean that all English people or American people are ready to fight with any French they meet. Quebec City is a great example of this. There are many people who speak French and those who speak English, but they still live happy and don’t conflict with each other. However, there are some stereotypes about one of cities in Quebec and its citizens, that may be interesting.

Now let’s make a short break and then we will know something about Chinese people, because there is a huge amount of stereotypes about them.

Now it’s time to talk about Chinese. It goes without saying, that country which was closed for foreigner during centuries, has a lot of stereotypes. However, some of them are quite common and connected with modern reality.

1. All Chinese are low

In some way, it is true. However, it is so only if talking in general about the nation. Some years ago, when Chinese people had bad nutrition and were poor they were low. However, nowadays with growth of economy of the country, many Chinese live good and eat well. As a result, they become taller. So if you are about 170 centimeters in height don’t expect that you will be giant among Chinese. Growth of most Chinese people is quite okay. Have problems with growth of skills and don’t know how to pass a test? Class mentor can help with test: all you need to do just ask for a help.

2. All Chinese are karate masters

This is probably the biggest myth and stereotype in the world. Of course, we all know movies with Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, who were extremely good at martial arts. You can read about Chan and his struggle with time in article about merciless time and famous people. Many years ago, a lot of people in China went to special martial schools as Shaolin. However, nowadays martial art has changed its status and became less spread than it was before. Of course, it is okay that we connect karate and martial arts with Chinese people, because China is home for many of them. However, nowadays a lot of Chinese are not karate masters.

3. All Chinese people use only native language

Of course many of these people speak their native language, however it is not so in most cases. First of all, Chinese language is extremely difficult even for native speakers. Secondly, language differs depending on different regions. It means that not only Chinese but also other languages are widely spread in China and one of the most spread languages is English. As a result, Chinese who speak English sound quite funny sometimes. You can find another unusual and strange mixture of languages called Spanglish here: http://onlineclassmentor.com/blog/spanglish-new-language-or-just-a-parody.

4. No food except rice

This is the most spread stereotypes about China. Of course, rice is very popular in this country, however they have a lot of other dishes and great choice of sea food. It should be also remembered that each province in the country has different cuisine and foreign one is also not a rarity. Of course, it may be hard for you to find traditional fast food in China, however you will probably find something similar. If you want to find a good helper for studying, read about our online classes: you will find many interesting offers.

We showed some stereotypes connected with two countries. Now let’s find some in absolutely different spheres.

1. Women with blonde hair are not smart

This is such a strange stereotype, which however still alive. There are a lot of funny stories and jokes about blonde-haired women, sometimes they are not respected, however it should be said exactly, that color of hair can’t influence brain in any way.

2. Men can’t be good cookers

This quite stereotypical thought is also based on gender stereotypes. However, let’s be honest: it depends only on your abilities and enthusiasm. If woman doesn’t like to cook she won’t do it good. At the same time, some men are great at this. If you don’t believe, try to find famous chefs and you will be surprised but amount of men is not smaller than that of women.

3. Women can’t be initiative

This is a stereotype, which many women use. However, let’s look at this: things are changing and if earlier women were standing on kitchens and sitting at home, now they want to be equal with men. It is great of course, but if they really want to be equal with men in rights, it means they should be able to make decisions and to be initiative. There is nothing bad in it.

4. Women can’t handle technologies

Nobody knows why, but there is a strong stereotype that women are not good with technologies as well as they are not good with mathematics. We won’t comment this. We just offer you movie called “Hidden Figures”, which shows how smart women can be.

5. All black people are criminals

Stereotype, which comes as usual from another one: “Black people don’t work”. These stereotypes come back to period of racial and segregation problems. Unfortunately, many black people were slaves and this connection is still strong for some people. That’s why they think that they are somehow better. However it is not so. The brightest example is Barak Obama – he showed that color of the skin is not important. Moreover, there are many white people who have problems with law. So, it would be quite meanly and ignorantly to say that black people are somehow worth then white.

As for the end, let’s try to find some stereotypes in a world of music.

1. All bass players are not smart

This stereotype appeared, because some people think that bass guitar has only four stringsthat’s why requires no skills. In other words, only losers who can’t play guitar play bass guitar. However, it is just astereotype. There are many good bass players. Of course, they are not as many as guitar players but there are some reasons for it. First of all, bass player has another role than guitar player does. Task of bass guitar is to support and connect guitar and drums. Bass guitar plays important but not leading role. It is not heard as well as guitar. However, you can look for Red Hot Chili Peppers and their bass guitar player. Or you can look for Dmitry Lisenko who plays acoustic bass without any other musicians and it sounds great.

2. Street musicians are just mendicants

This stereotype is usually connected with another: “Street musicians are not talented enough”. It is not so, and to ensure, you should just listen to some performances of street musicians and then to some “Stars” like Justin Bieber performance. You will be surprised, but guys from streets have more and more effort and talent than many so-called professional musicians. Finally, they just play good music and make your mood better. So it is kind of job, which is not as easy to do as it may seem.

As you can see, there is a great amount of stereotypes in different areas. Stereotypes are everywhere however, it is important to distinguish facts from them. Remember that stereotypes are not based on true facts sometimes, or very often, they are exaggeration or distortion of real facts. So, if you are not sure that the fact you have heard is true, don’t be lazy and check it. As a result, you will be smart and won’t appear in some funny or awkward situation. So, be smart and use critical thinking: this is the best way to avoid stereotypes!